Ashanti on trial

Ashanti is being sued for $1 million by a man who claims to have discovered her when she was 16.

The Grammy winning R'n'B superstar appeared in Manhattan's US District Court on Monday to defend herself against allegations from a Georgia-based producer.

Genard Parker filed a lawsuit against Ashanti last year, claiming she breached a contract originally signed in 1996, after she and her mother apparently approached him for help in becoming a star.

Parker insists she was "just another teenage girl with a nice voice", when he discovered Ashanti. He claims to have been abandoned by her when she became famous and is demanding a considerable financial pay-off.

Parker's lawyer, Jasmine Khalili told the courtroom: "This case is about abandoning the people that help us succeed."

She told the court that Ashanti was released from her contract with Parker with the understanding that he would produce two songs on her first album, get $50,000 plus royalties.

Khalili now claims that Ashanti's recent success - two hit records and six million sales - mean his client's bill is currently in the region of $1 million.

Khalili continued: "She has never paid him, and, just as importantly, she has never thanked him."

Ashanti denied in court that Parker had played a key role in her development, whilst her lawyer, Harry Stokes, argued that it was only after the success of the second album that he questioned their original contract agreement

The trial is expected to last three more days.